Madeleine McCann: Colette Douglas Home Spreads The Fear And Inside Irvine Welsh
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann, Gerry McCann
THE HERALD: “Do you want to see every parent in the dock?”
It’s Colette Douglas Home, professional Maddie opinion giver. And to answer her question: yes. Fingerprint them, photograph them and question them for 42 days. Only the guilty have anything to fear.
Fear:
You’ve got to admit, they shouldn’t have left the children unattended and gone out to dinner.” It was a colleague talking to me about Kate and Gerry McCann. He went on: “We go on holiday with a big group of friends but we’d never do that. We put the wee ones to bed and eat downstairs.”
“And do you check on them every half hour?”
“Yes. Well, we send the teenagers to do the checking.”
Fear:
I wonder if he realises how fortunate he has been. If something terrible had happened, can you imagine the headlines? They would probably say something like: “Teenagers checked on missing toddler while parents partied.”
Yeah, who cares that the children have been eaten by alligators, fallen down the plughole or hit the minibar and suffocated in their own vomit – it’s the media’s reaction to it that matters most.
And what of the McCanns, Colette’s favourite subject:
I imagined the fact that Kate and Gerry McCann are doctors would stand them in some regard, since they spend their lives trying to help others. I was wrong. I thought the clear evidence from family photographs that Madeleine was a happy, well-cared-for child would demonstrate that leaving her unsupervised was an aberration, not the norm. But I didn’t allow for jealousy and resentment.
Maybe people are just bored of the McCanns? But Colette cannot face that possibility:
So let’s think about that call for prosecution. If the McCanns are to stand in the dock, who should stand beside them? We can start with those who were on the same holiday and who didn’t hire a babysitter. Then what about all the other couples who have stayed at that or any family-friendly holiday village where they felt safe enough to leave the children unattended while they ate? What about people who eat in the garden on hot summer evenings while their children sleep in the house? What about parents who sleep indoors, maybe one night a year, while their kids sleep in a tent? If we apply these standards, the courts would be jam-packed.
What about them? The McCanns are not being prosecuted child neglect, child abandonment, nor for any other crime.
THE SCOTSMAN: “Crime and Punishment - Irvine Welsh”
Dave Robinson is in Saughton jail. For crimes againt journalism. Ho-ho:
I’M WALKING behind the Famous Author. He’s wearing trainers, a T-shirt, an expensive-looking grey-green leather jacket and is carrying a plastic bag. As I follow him, I’m thinking that the way people walk tells you something about them. The Famous Author walks like a fighter: self-confident, disciplined, head up. He doesn’t walk like a 50-year-old, though in a couple of months he will be one.
How close behind Welsh is Robinson? Close enough to smell him?
Welsh has written a book called Crime, HMP Edinburgh. But he nearly didn’t:
He’s talked to child-abuse survivors’ groups and handles the subject with uncommon sensitivity – so much so, in fact, that he gave up writing the book altogether when the Madeleine McCann story first broke. “Even approaching the subject tangentially seemed frivolous and stupid.”
His is work of fiction, the McCann case is one of fact. What has one to do with the other? The McCann case is a touchstone for a writer’s book, a stepping stone on the PR drive.
Posted: 29th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (494) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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July 29th, 2008 at 11:17 am
jos updated her blog
July 29th, 2008 at 11:15 am
m.e.
You don’t know me, nor anything about me!
I assure you, you are SOOOOOO wrong! Laughably wrong, actually.
Of course, I do believe there ought to be evidence before people are charged. Quaint idea, I know.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Gracias por el cumplido, Melanie.
Intento mi mejor.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Maria
WHAT the f….f…are you f…talking about????
July 29th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Right, who is goıng to be Gandolf today?
“İ dıd ıt yesterday and that Julıe and Jo were very rude to me”
” shut up you bıg gırls blouse”
“okay then you do ıt today”
“i see that nıce Mr agw ıs moderatıng today”
“err,rıght İ,ve got thıs note from my Mam excusıng me postıng”
“come on whats to be scared of”
“there must be someone daft enough…………. ”
“Hello Dave, and who are you goıng to be today”
“Hello Matthew, today İ am going to be Gandolf”
July 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Brandon,
July 29th, 2008 at 11:11 am
usted es un hombre agradable señor Matt
July 29th, 2008 at 11:09 am
brandon flours Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:08 am
July 29th, 2008 at 11:08 am
My neighbours daughter cracks me up she said her friends are called cockney and irish,
I thought she was calling them nicknames to do with their accents, like men make up, I just saw them and they are called courtney and Iris
July 29th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Estoy muy bien, gracias, Melanie.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Maria
If ever I commit a crime I hope all the detectives are like you.
There would be plenty of capacity in the prisons.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Brandon, God’s fury at his house being converted to flats?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I’m not Colette, of course, but all power to her for saying the obvious.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
There was loads of lightening last night, I wonder if it struck?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Jo, I was being unsueable…
July 29th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Maria
Hola Maria
Que nos cantas?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:02 am
hola ignacio ¿ cómo estás?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:02 am
wtf
Because I believe, along with most people, that evidence has to be the basis for charges. That (to more or less quote Henrique Monteiro in yesterday’s Expresso) is the difference between barbarism and civilisation. As Monteiro says, it’s “medieval justice” which inspires Amaral. He compares him to the Queen in Alice, whose method is to cut people’s head off and THEN have the trial. He regrets that this “barbarism” has, until recently, headed up the Portimao police and hopes he’s be the last example of it.
It is not because I “like” the Mcs (you can’t like or dislike people you don’t know) or excuse the fact that they left the children asleep in the apartment that I “get annoyed”, as you put.
“Annoyed” is not the word. Pathetic word. There is an essential principle here which needs to be defended with all the passion we have. These people have had even their suspect status lifted for lack of evidence. They have NEVER been charged with ANYTHING. Similarly Murat. They are all three innocent under the law.
That should be respected. The Portuguese know that as well.
God help any of you if you are ever unjustly charged with a crime. It is that very principle on which you will depend and yet you attempt to destroy it here. It’s the cornerstone of our system of justice. And of Portugal’s, of course. The Portuguese AG has given the decision that there is no evidence to link the Mcs or Murat with any crime, Any. He should be respected. Or do you think he is a liar or a fool?
You may tell your spouse or partner or friends any suspicions you have about anyone, but nobody has the right to libel people who are innocent under the law. And if you can get away with it with the anonymity of the net, under the law as it currently stands, it still does not make it right.
It’s wrong. And I get a lot more than “annoyed” about it.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Melanie Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Jo, I doubt Maria and Colette are the same person.
**********
I was being sarcastic
July 29th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Matt. Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
My name is Ignacio and I live in Buenos Aires.
******
….and you speak fluent chinese jajajajaja
BYEeeeeeee
July 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Ciao, jo.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Brandon, imagine if you lived there and just got back from holidaying in Weston Super Mare!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
My name is Ignacio and I live in Buenos Aires.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:59 am
cool and calm
melanie
Its just off the green, on the road towards hammersmith, sky is black, just got back from swimming lessons, just trying to find out if anyone got hurt.
I am pretty sure my old builder said he had friends there
July 29th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Matt. Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Carmen Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Argentina ?
Heavens.
******
Its only a rumour…..but now I have a growing concern : is there a new Falkland on the way?
Cyberships being built,sophisticated tools,uranium bomb next or wot?
I must revise the Dolls colection and update the range methink….I am off now.
Nice to be with you all
Be good
Dont spin tooooo much
Have a good day
July 29th, 2008 at 10:58 am
The article is nonsense. It claims (arguably correctly) that many people could be prosecuted because many leave their kids unsupervised, esp on holiday.
Where are all the regular abductions there would be then if one has taken place here?………………….
July 29th, 2008 at 10:56 am
A wise decision, Melanie.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
When children sleep in the tent in the back yard, the parents know, listen, and don’t sleep much at all. The slightest noise and they would be out like a shot to see what was up. But hasn’t a child disappeared from the back yard? It can happen anywhere at any time, but usually any suspicions go after a while.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Maybe I wont haea drink. I must have too many already. A “tast force”. Heavens above…
July 29th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Matt, as I can’t raise a tast force I’ll have a drink then please